A Study in Green Vol 2: The City of Water
by EternallyLostAuthor
Summary: When Goblin Slayer's services are requested in The City of Water Wizard and her Party accompany him there. There are dark secrets hidden beneath the beautiful streets and water ways. A disturbing vision haunting the young adventurer's mind. Is it Fate Or merely a warning? Wizard's Adventure Continues! (Alternate Survivor AU)
1. Prologue: The Vision

Divination. A cornerstone of all schools of magic. Clerics and Priest looking to their gods for guidance, arcane casters channeling their magics to scry different places. Rumors persist that even the shaman of the Non Praying Creatures have their own methods of divination (There are, of course, no official studies on the matter). It was often a time consuming process and for the untrained could even use up multiple spell slots to get a proper viewing, thus only specialists tended to get into the art. Adventurers almost never used such magic, preferring to focus their training on spells that were immediately useful in the moment...

Wizard though enjoyed experimenting with new things...

As spring turned to summer Wizard found her magical stamina had improved. With her spell slots increasing to 5 so did her options to pursue higher magics. When she'd gone to gather new books to study she'd found the dusty copy of 'The Inner Eye' mixed amongst the old spell books of past adventurers. It immediately caught her interest, explaining the art of divination as a straightforward procedure. It ditched much of the flowery theatrics she'd heard so much from fortune tellers and treated it like a proper subject of study. Her free nights disappeared into candle light and within a week she felt she had a solid enough grasp of it to make an attempt of it. She waited until her monthly bleeding, knowing she'd have three days to work without worry of adventuring...

A crystal ball was simply out of the question but from what she'd read any reflective surface could work. Citing examples of mirrors or pools of water being perfectly viable for a focus. So one bucket later she began the preparation rituals. Some light enchantments on the bucket in question to act as a proper focus. Clearing her scrying area of any magical interference. As far as she knew no other mages were roomed next to her so it should work fine. Ignoring a few puzzled looks she received as she brought the half filled bucket through the guild hall and up to the second floor she placed it in the center of the room. Taking a moment to catch her breath and rub her sore arms she wondered if perhaps she should start working on her physical stamina as well. Shelving that aside she took a seat by the bucket and took a few deep breaths to calm her heart and clear her mind. Focus was one of the key tenets of divination, a cluttered mind could only lead to cluttered visions after all.

Fortunately she'd learned proper meditation techniques back at the academy. With each slow breath she could feel herself pulling away. The muffled din of the guild hall fading away, focusing only on the calm water in front of her and the flow of her own magic.

"Visus... Futurus... Locus...Notitia." As the incantations were spoken colors and shapes began to form. She had no question or location she was directly seeking so according to the book she should receive a general vision of the future... "Scry!" The world faded and the colors began to form more solid.

_A Sword with a Hilt of Balanced scales..._

That was the symbol of the supreme god isn't it? Was this about Cleric?

_A cascade of white and gold trail up to a shadowed face, eyes covered with a strip of white…_

No, someone else.

_Behind the figure a stream of water swirled around, sounds of a crowd filled the air. The setting around the figure morphing in a bright city…_

Hm, that doesn't look familiar. It's not the capital at least… I wonder where-

_The blindfold is torn off to reveal vile yellow eyes with horizontal slit pupils. The background dropped from sunny city streets to dark ruins. In the shadows more sets of eyes appeared The crowd noise morphing into grunts and squeals…_

Goblins!... well if it's my future that shouldn't be surprising. Of course goblin quests would be in my future.

_A hand reached through the shadows, Through the vision..._

Wizard gasped, it was getting harder to breath. As if the hand was choking her somehow... but this was just a vision. wasn't it?

_A single eye full of hatred and malice glee blotted out the others..._

Wizard could feel herself lifted off the ground, the individual fingers tightening around her torso, her ribs creaking under the pressure of the giant green hand. What.. was this? It feels so real! The book never mentioned anything like this-

_The world around her blurred... behind the the great beast stood a shadowed figure, humanoid with a skull mask and black robes. With a motion of offering a large mirror faded into view. It's surface rippling like a pond, showing several different places.. Before it could continue the mirror was blocked by a missive shadow filled with eyes. Not Goblin eyes, something else. Something unnatural..._

Wizard could barely focus on the vision as she continued to struggle to breath. Her trance refused to break...

_Blood everywhere... River of red drifted down from above her. Floating inside it were bodies of men and women. But among them were more familiar faces... High Elf Archer, Dwarf Shaman, Lizard Priest... Warrior & Cleric... and finally a single worn helmet floating along..._

She began to hyperventilate, despite the crushing feeling on her lungs, fear rose and tears came to her eyes. No.. This wasn't a vision this was a nightmare. Why couldn't she stop it? She tried to move, to escape the crushing grip only managing a few weak flails.

_Laughter... deep unsettling laughter. Somehow the Goblin seemed even bigger, it felt like her bones were breaking... it opened its mouth wider and wider as if it would swallow her whole. It grew closer and closer_

and suddenly it all stopped. A warmth appeared in her hand and seemed to spread out over her body and the images disappeared. The crushing feeling left her, she gasped deep breaths to refill her aching lungs. She was left floating in nothingness, helpless to the invisible flow around her. Within that nothingness came a blinding light.

_Wake up… My Child... _A warm caress touched her cheek.

Wizard's eyes shot open to see the ceiling of her room. Her breathing was ragged and she was damp with sweat and water. The bucket had been knocked over from her flailing. She sat up shakily placing a hand over her face, desperately trying to regain her composure. The nightmarish images playing on in her mind on loop.

"I… I need to clean up…" she brought her hands down to steady herself only to feel something in her left. Unclenching her shaky fist she saw a small worn symbol. A collection of wings in a circular design. The symbol of the Earth Mother. It fell from her hand to the floor as she broke down crying… from fear or elation she didn't know. It wasn't until late afternoon that her hysterical episode subsided enough for her to properly clean up… She went over the book once more that night looking for any explanation for the frighteningly vivid vision. The only consolation it brought was that divination could work very differently from one caster to another. It was less than comforting. What she needed was clarification, but there were no Diviners in the Frontier Town. The hard working and hard living folk on the frontier had no need for such frivolous occupations. So she set the event aside. Recording what she'd seen to parchment and focusing back on the present. There were still quests to take and goblins to kill after all…

* * *

AN: The City of Water Arc Begins and Volume 2 Begins...


	2. Offer and Prep

Three weeks into the height of summer, she was celebrating the long night with her companions in the guild hall after a successful adventure… The trio of veterans had assisted her in taking the Warrior and Cleric out on a mission outside of town. Her fellow rookies had helped in a couple of Goblin quests lately as they started to ease out of sewer patrol and into proper missions...

The stiff heavy steps of leather boots grew closer to their table, Wizard allowed a smile on seeing her mentor approach. A man of average build, clad in shabby leather and chain. On his head an old helmet, formally horned and dented from battles and reforging. The adventurer Known as Goblin Slayer. He stopped at the head of the table and looked to his regular party members,.

"I have been offered a mission." His voice baring little emotion on the subject. "There are goblins." his firm declaration was met with mostly eye rolling and knowing nods. After all, it was always goblins.

"We're gonna need more than that Beard Cutter."

"Of course, The client is in Water Town. They will provide transportation there and back. The Reward is one bag of gold per person. The wagons arrive in two days. You can come or not." his matter of fact statement left the table quiet. He remained at the end of the table, expression unreadable as ever under his helmet. Wizard sighed loudly and covered her face… for as much as she respected the silver ranked adventurer there were times where he could be trying to deal with.

"Tactful as ever." She snarked lightly removing her hand from her forehead.

"Hm…" High elf archer stroked her chin dramatically. "To go or not, huh?" she leaned forward on the table gaining a smug expression. "Let me guess, if we say no you'll just go by yourself with the rookie sneaking off after you." she said knowingly ignoring the annoyed look the red-head was giving her.

"Of course." he said with hesitation. The elf put her hands up and offered a helpless shrug.

"Well there you go, That's hardly even a fair suggestion!." she chuckled to herself at the absurdity.

"Come now, this is good progress." The dwarf grinned as he refilled his glass. "At least beard Cutter has softened up enough to ask if we want to come along."

"Indeed, it is a promising development." The priest said before taking another large bite of cheese and closing his eyes in bliss. It was refreshing, as much as wizard had learned during her time one and one with Goblin Slayer things had gotten so much more dynamic when the others had joined… something she was sure he felt too. Even if he couldn't say it properly.

"Right, let's give our decision then." Wizard said clapping her hands together.

"Very well." He replied stoically, waiting for the coming answers

"I'm going of course, we can hardly let the goblins have their way after all." The red head readjusted her glasses and gained a firm expression. "I do hope you've told her about this trip?" she added seriously. The Veteran turning his head away slightly.

"Not yet,"

"Then as soon as we're done here."

"Right." he agreed with a hint of annoyance.

"Weeell you did come on that adventure you promised a little while back. Even if it did just turn out to be more goblin Slaying." Though she tried to play it coy, she did nothing to hide the expression of excitement, her long ears wiggled up and down ever so slightly. She stood and puffed her chest. "I'll go along with…. On the condition that you owe me another adventure!" she announced with a dramatic point toward the armor man. "Fair trade Orcbolg?"

"Yes, that's fine." He offered a slight nod.

"I believe our funds are enough to handle a bigger mission, especially with such a solid reward at the end of it. I'm in."

"Far be it for me to turn down another attempt to eliminate heresy in the realm. I will gladly lend my aid Sir Goblin Slayer."

"Though No Poison Gas bombs this time!" The archer piped back in defiantly.

"What?"

"She has a point Sir." Warrior spoke up reluctantly. "The last quest we just sat outside the cave finishing off choking goblins… It's not very heroic."

"...But it's so effective."

"No Buts. Also no fire or flooding. Think of something else." she crossed her arms daring the man to tell her otherwise. "This applies to you too Rookie." she tossed over her shoulder as almost an afterthought

"Now wait just one minute." Wizard stood up and poked the elf in the shoulder getting her to turn around. "You can't just go around making demands like you're in charge." the older female smirked slightly at the objection.

"Aww, what's wrong already out of tricks? I thought you were suppose to be the clever one." The Wizard's eyes narrowed and her frown deepened.

"Don't turn the issue around, you're trying to limit out tactical options-" she started buT the archer got into her face.

"If you can't handle a few simple stipulations then maybe you shouldn't act so high and mighty Rookie." she accentuated the nickname by jabbing her finger into the girls chest. Logic left the redhead and her fists clenched.

"Women, so stubborn..." The Shaman muttered shaking his head as he went back to focus on his gem work. The Swordsman almost agreed before catching the hard look of his companion and immediately focusing on his meal.

"I can handle any stupid stipulation you can come up with."

"Prove it then."

"Fine! I will!"

"Good~" and the High elf disengaged looking quite pleased with herself while the wizard seethed and frowned deeply... for some reason it felt like she just lost something, but she was too annoyed by the archer's smug smirk to figure out what it was. The Cleric cleared her throat after she deemed it safe enough to talk.

"Um, Is this offer extended to us as well?" she asked with a tinge of hopefulness.

"Yeah, we've never gone that far inland before!" The Swordsman's excitement overrode all politeness or respectfulness. Goblin slayer's helmet tilted down slightly looking over the request.

"There is no rank restriction on the request." He noted stoically, "But we do not know the extent of the problem." He was silent for a moment before the helmet tilted back up and right toward the Porcelain Adventurers. "As long as you follow instructions as you have been I don't see why not."

"Yes sir." both said sharply before smiling at each other. Goblin Slayer nodded in response as if accepting their request before turning and heading back out of the guild hall, no doubt to head back to the farm. Wizard noticed the other exchanging glances, they seemed just as surprised as she did... They had been helping the two with bigger missions as of late but this was almost an informal admittance that Goblin Slayer saw them as part of the party. This mission meant a lot of things for this small group, most of them positive. Wizard shared a smile with her fellow rookies. At least now she'd have someone else closer to her age to talk with for the trip. Come to think of it, she hadn't been on a trip to a major city since she set off on this adventure months ago. That Thought alone had her own excitement building… What kind of materials could she get access to in a bigger city closer to the capitol? Her mind raced with the possibilities… she'd have to start preparing.

After Dinner of Course…

Wizard's mind danced with preparations. Wizard gathered her prepared alchemy and some small amounts of unrefined reagents. After all, it would be unlikely to restock until they returned and she could hardly bring it all with her. She also had to keep in mind the stipulations her entitled party mate was imposing... no fire, no poison. That was definitely limiting for crowd control situations. It even affected her available spells. Her primary offense spells with both fire based, fire had always come easy to her. This stipulation had her scouring her spell book for viable replacements but accessible spells were limited unless she started trading notes with other adventurers and well.. her popularity amongst the guild was pretty polarized since the raid. Most of those who 'liked her spunk' were the jump into action types… The Warriors and Scouts of the guild. While the more cautious were still holding onto those harsh words she'd slung in the heat of the moment.

Unfortunately most of those cautious types tended to be arcane casters... Though there was one...

The Witch Took a long drag of her pipe and released a lazy cloud of smoke that hovered around The younger adventurer's head. She repressed the urge to cough at the unwelcome scent of burning herbs. Offering a knowing smile, she began to speak in a calm, dream-like manner.

"So... the fiery... young mage... seeks alternatives?"

"Yes," she closed her eyes and measured her tone. "It has come to my attention that Fire magic, though strong is not ideal in all situations. I would like to test out some other spells to augment my capabilities. I was hoping you would be able to assist me in this regard." she bowed slightly in respect, doing her best to keep her voice professional as always, despite the older woman's attitude. The airy giggle of the Silver in response to this request bringing a twitch to her eye

"What you mean... is you were tricked... into an... agreement." she replied in a bemused tone. "but you are... Too stubborn... to back down... from it. Yes?" The wizard grimaced but said nothing. Apparently some of the other tables had heard their spat. Just Great. Another cloud drifted by her head. "Very Well... Meet me... at the west gate... after sundown." Wizard looked up in surprise to see an understanding smile on the older woman. "We will… see if.. You can learn…"

"Thank you! I won't let you down."

"I.. trust.. You won't~"

Wizard returned late in the evening, mental exhausted… The instruction she'd been expecting had shifted into something more out of the magic theory courses she had back in school… Instead of teaching the girl a new offensive spell The Witch started to speak at length about the power of words… A spell was made of vocal and Somatic components. Saying the right words with the right motions would produce the spell you wanted. At least that's what she had been taught. The Witch proposed that each word held its own power and that combining those words together could allow for different spells to be made.

It was a bold theory, at least it seemed as such until she watched it in action. The Silver cast several spells only changing one word between them. She then broke it down even further using only the word for fire to light a candle… at that she was hooked, under the careful eye of the vetern she began to experiment with words and control... she cast and cast until the words started to work… she cast until her reserves were empty. It was strenuous, far more then traditional casting. Fire of course came easiest to her but unfortunately that was the word she was needing to avoid. The witch seemed to brush that aside, saying it got easier with practice... It was clear this was completely unfeasible for a mission only a day away... The the Witch only seemed amused at the younger mages frustration.

"It is true... learning to... use each word... to its fullest...will take... time." she conceded before taking a long draw of her pipe. Blowing a lazy cloud up toward the night sky. "But all you... need to learn... is One word... yes~?"

As bizarre as the logic was Wizard has trouble finding fault with it. Which in some ways was the most annoying part…

"Glacio…" The wizard muttered to herself as she made her way upstairs. Ice magic never seemed sensible to her back at the academy. Fire was simply superior when it came to combat followed shortly behind by lightning… now as an adventurer she had the field experience to understand how narrow that view was. Though Fire was superior Ice magic had other uses and secondary effects that could be useful in a battle situation… she currently had no ice spells, and thus the Witch Suggested it would be the ideal word to learn. As she didn't have any other established rules of methods to unlearn in that regard… All that was left to do was to practice until she couldn't anymore. To find away to apply this word theory to practice.

The Wizard studied late into the night and as soon as she woke after resting all the way up until the carriages arrived to take them away. Only time would tell if it had been worth the effort...

* * *

AN: Well is has been a long while since i updated Wizard's tale, mostly was having problems setting up the situation but I think this will work... So The City of Water quest is kicking off, somethings have changed while others remain the same... the restrictions still apply, but its also being directed at the Wizard and not just Goblin Slayer. On the other Hand the duo of Cleric and Warrior will be joining the fray making for a bigger party. Considering the danger ahead we'll just have to see if this is a good or bad thing...

As for the whole section with The Witch and 'word theory', her speech patterns are apparently caused by that fact she can cast spells based off single words and phrases and thus she breaks up her speech patterns so she doesn't accidentally cast anything. It's been a while since i read that so it may have been a mistake on my part but i remember bother her and the dwarf can do this... so the wizard is introduced to this style of magic. she's not anywhere close to being able to weave spells that way but she at least has a basic enough understanding that she might be able to throw something together with some work.


End file.
